Copilot Kit 🚀

One-click quick prompt buttons for VS Code Copilot Chat — eliminate repetitive typing of common prompts.

Screenshots

Copilot Kit Sidebar

Overview

Provides customizable quick prompt buttons in the status bar and sidebar panel with the following core capabilities:

🔘 Dual Entry Points

Status Bar Buttons: One-click prompt trigger, always visible
Sidebar Panel: Full prompt management interface with CRUD operations

🎯 Two Execution Modes

Mode	Description
Write to Input	Writes the prompt to Copilot Chat input box, send after confirmation
Direct Execute	Executes the prompt directly, auto-sends to Copilot Chat

🖱 Interaction

Action	Behavior
Left click	Sends prompt according to configured mode
Right click	Sends prompt with currently selected code in editor
Built-in button click	Triggers corresponding command directly

📦 Built-in Shortcuts

Button	Function
💬 New Chat Tab	Smart chat: creates chat editor if no tab exists, splits right if a tab exists
❌ Close All Tabs	Closes all editor tabs and Copilot sidebar

⚙️ Custom Prompts

Manage your prompt list directly via the sidebar panel:

Add: Click the + Add Shortcut button at the bottom
Edit: Click the edit icon next to a prompt to modify label, icon, display mode, prompt content, and execution mode
Delete: Click the Delete button in the edit modal, confirmed twice before deletion
Reorder: Adjust prompt order using up/down arrows
Show/Hide: Control visibility in the status bar via the eye icon

Each custom prompt supports the following properties:

Property	Description
`label`	Button display label
`icon`	Button icon (supports VS Code Codicon library with search filtering)
`prompt`	Prompt content sent to Copilot
`displayMode`	Display mode: `icon` (icon only), `text` (text only), `both` (icon + text)
`mode`	Execution mode: `write` (write to input), `direct` (execute directly)

📊 Status Bar Display Modes

Three display modes are supported, configurable per button in the edit modal:

Icon Only — Displays only the icon, compact and clean
Text Only — Displays only the text label
Icon + Text — Displays both icon and label

📐 Status Bar Position

Adjust the position of buttons in the status bar via the VS Code setting copilotKit.statusBarPosition:

Value	Alignment	Priority
`leftLeft`	Left side	High priority (near left edge)
`leftRight`	Left side	Low priority (near center-left)
`rightLeft`	Right side	Low priority (near center-right)
`rightRight`	Right side	High priority (near right edge)

Installation

From Source

git clone <repo-url>
cd copilot-kit
npm install
npm run compile

Then run Extensions: Install from VSIX... in VS Code or copy to the extensions directory.

Development Mode

npm run watch    # Watch TypeScript changes and auto-compile

Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host for debugging.

Configuration

VS Code Settings

Open VS Code settings (Cmd+,), search for Copilot Kit, or directly edit settings.json:

{
  "copilotKit.statusBarPosition": "leftRight",
  "copilotKit.prompts": [
    {
      "id": "custom-review",
      "icon": "code-review",
      "label": "Code Review",
      "prompt": "Please review the following code and identify potential issues...",
      "color": "#4fc3f7",
      "mode": "write",
      "displayMode": "icon"
    }
  ]
}

Tech Stack

Language: TypeScript
Platform: VS Code Extension API (v1.93+)
Build: TypeScript Compiler (tsc)
UI Framework: Native Webview + VS Code Codicon library
Zero Third-party Dependencies: Purely VS Code API implementation

Commands

Command	Description
`copilotKit.sendPrompt`	Send prompt to Copilot Chat
`copilotKit.smartChatAction`	Smart chat operation
`copilotKit.closeAll`	Close all tabs and sidebar

Project Structure

copilot-kit/
├── package.json              # Extension manifest and configuration
├── tsconfig.json             # TypeScript configuration
├── src/
│   ├── extension.ts          # Extension entry: status bar, command registration
│   └── quickPromptsProvider.ts # Webview Provider + prompt management logic
├── media/                    # Static assets (reserved)
├── learnings/                # Development learning notes
└── skills-lock.json          # Skills lock file

License

MIT

Copilot Kit

Copilot-kit